I Am Going To Miss You | BFI Flare 2026

I usually hate this kind of film. I'm a film wanker, and there are certain genres that I arrogantly think I'm above. I want films to play with form, to break the rules, to challenge me. So why was I so moved by I Am Going To Miss You?

This is a light comedy/romantic drama film about a couple figuring out how to prioritise their careers versus starting a family. It's a soppy love story where the most frightening possibility is that one of our protagonists might cheat.

There are a million movies like this. The genre might as well be called "straight people slop". But this film just had its premiere at BFI Flare, the UK's biggest queer film festival. Why? Well…that'll be because every single actor in it is trans.

Sorry for burying the lede, but I cannot overstate how profound that decision is, and it deserves to be revealed with some panache. It is practically unheard of to have a trans cast this large, and the effect is nothing short of radical. Trans people don't normally get conversations about how many kids we want, entirely normal relationships with our parents, or the ability to focus on a career. To get even one of those things, we often have to be really lucky.

To be clear, not all characters in this movie are trans. I think it might actually only be our leads – and that does come up in ways that are familiar (helping one another with hormone shots, disclosing to a date, etc). But by making the fabric of the world trans, all that is made normal. We're allowed to imagine a world where trans people can be anyone, anything, or anywhere.

I Am Going To Miss You doesn't really feature any artsy or flashy filmmaking choices. It's a very conventional narrative, with a few good gags here and there. But there's nothing else like it.